Mid-Week Musings - Trees of Heaven and Heavenly Spice Mixes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...City kids, particularly those now on Social Security rolls, will remember this tree. It was a fixture on city lots and, like Jack's bean stalk, it grew heavenward despite rooting in ground so barren that its death knell should have sounded. For reasons that defy logic or taxonomy, the tree, whose odor is much like that of cat urine, was dubbed, the Tree of Heaven. I came across one on my walk this morning and it triggered this reverie. Back in the day, preteen boys and girls tended to run in packs, and bikes and skates and baseball were all unisex endeavors. So, too, were the feudal war games that involved swords and whips and forever endeared the Tree of Heaven to the lords and ladies of the court. Weapons were made by stripping leaves from its branches and taking after opponents with a vengeance that Tarzan and Wonder Woman would envy. It was all in good fun and truly child's play for a generation who would retire with bits of gravel still embedded in their knees. We skated without helmets or shin guards, and scabby knees and elbows were as much apart of our childhood as school shoes. The occasional welt from an errant "whip" was disguised whenever possible, because moms, even in those days of laissez-faire parenting, frowned on certain of our activities. We were generally left to our own devices. Homework had to be done and school clothes put away, but once that was accomplished, we were on our own until dark or dinner, whichever came first. Dinner back then was considerably different than it is today. FDA guidelines specified 3 vegetables be served for optimum health, and, God bless those moms of yesteryear, that is what we got. Of course, the vegetables came from cans and our repetitious meals made those that are served today look like food for the gods. I could tell you what day of the week it was by what appeared on my mother's dinner table. There usually was a dessert and certain spice mixes were kept to help keep pantry inventory and cost low. Pie spices, apple and pumpkin, both were popular. While I don't regularly use them, I keep those spice mixes on hand for busy days when the goal is done rather than do. The holiday season will soon be here and I thought some of you might like to make your own pie spices this year. Their aroma certainly beats that of the Tree of Heaven. These are the recipes I use.

Midweek Musings + Revisiting Australian Busters

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...As soon as we knew the fumes from the Deception Creek fire had dissipated, we left the coast and headed home, taking a circuitous route that took us along some back roads where time seems to have stopped. Many of the old farm houses have ramps leading to porches that creak as surely as the joints of the folks who still live in them, and their rabbit ear antennas break the monotony of the gray or dirty white their shingles have become. This is the country of old men. Here and there you will find a thriving farm tucked between properties that stand empty and are slowly succumbing to the damp that saturates neglected homesteads in the Pacific Northwest. These houses, with glassless windows and shards of fabric flowing outward through now empty panes, were once homes with starched curtains and polished knobs, and while I'm sure they have a story hidden beneath their eaves, there is neither chick nor child left to tell their tale. Death or desperation has left them empty and with no heirs, these small farms will become the property of the state who will let them stand until they list and fall. It is like closing a chapter on American history. The farms, which once trucked produce to markets, are no longer economically viable, and their day has passed as surely as the party line succumbed to the cell phone. Our time, too, will come, but I reverently hope that we will leave a trail of songs sung so brightly, that they will echo from the rafters of our homes before they fall.